Finland in brief

Finland

Finland is one of the Nordic countries with a population of five million people. Finland is known for its high standard of living, advanced technology and high-level education. Finland is also famous for its architecture and design. Today Nokia Telecommunications is the leading manufacturer of mobile phones in the world.

Climate

The climate is characterised by quite cold winters and warm summers. Due to the warming influence of the Gulf Stream and the Baltic Sea temperatures in winter are moderate. Temperatures vary from + 15 degrees to + 25 degrees in summer and in winter the temperature may occasionally fall to -25 degrees. Cold winters are not a problem, though, because houses in Finland are warm. The year is divided into four distinctly different seasons; winter, spring, summer and autumn.

Geography

Finland’s neighbouring countries are Sweden, Norway, Estonia and Russia. Finland has 1000 kilometres of the common border of the European Union with Russia. Most of the country is lowland, but in Lapland, the most northern part of the country, the landscape is formed by high rounded fells. Other outstanding features of Finland’s scenery are 188 000 lakes, numerous islands and vast forests. One of the most beautiful areas is the archipelago of Helsinki, Turku and Åland Islands.

People

Out of the total population of five million one and a half million live in southern and south-western Finland. There are two official languages in Finland: Finnish and Swedish. In addition to the Swedish-speaking minority there is another minority that of Sami people. The most widely spoken foreign language is English.

Links:

Virtual Finland
Pecularities of the Finnish culture
Statistics
Education in Finland